No Time
by magickmoons
Summary: It's always important to make time for each other. * Pairing: Jack/Daniel est rel * Set during Zero Hour (8x04)


**Title: **No Time  
**Characters/Pairings: **Jack/Daniel est rel  
**Notes/Warnings:** takes place during Zero Hour (8x04), the morning of Four Days to Zero Hour

* * *

Daniel stretched his arm as far as he could, just managing to pinch the edge of the briefing book that had fallen behind the bed. He had been reading when Jack had gotten home late last night, tired and frustrated; this transition to head of the SGC didn't agree with him. Apparently, finding Daniel half-naked in bed _did_ agree with him, and he had come to bed hard and greedy, taking his pleasure in Daniel slowly and thoroughly until they had both come with desperate, shuddering gasps. They had fallen asleep immediately after, Jack's hold on Daniel not loosening until the alarm woke them before the dawn.

Hauling the damn book back up with just his fingertips took an annoying amount of patience; Daniel could hear the clock tick each second away. He winced as he glanced over at the time once he had the report safely in his hands. Taking advantage of the rare occasion of waking at the same time as Jack by joining him in the shower this morning had been pleasurable, but more time-consuming than he had anticipated.

Jack was cooking when Daniel came into the kitchen, mentally cataloging his morning meetings.

"You're up early," Jack commented.

"I didn't hear you complaining about that half an hour ago." Daniel smirked and breezed an automatic kiss across Jack's lips as he leaned past him to grab his travel mug of coffee.

"No complaints. Possibly a request for a repeat performance," Jack mused as he turned back to the stove. "Eggs will be ready in a few minutes. Toast is on the table."

"No time. I've got a meeting with Nyan first thing on the translation from 395 and Reynolds was supposed to send some pictures through that I promised to look at before first thing." Daniel grabbed his bag and did a quick inventory before shoving the briefing book in and slinging it onto his shoulder. "And I need to get all of that done before we leave for P2X-887."

He grabbed a piece of toast on his way out of the kitchen. "See you at the mountain," he mumbled through a bite. He was halfway to the door when Jack's voice stopped him.

"Daniel, aren't you forgetting something?"

He stopped and looked down: briefcase, coffee, jacket, shoes (matching: Bonus Points!). "No, I don't think so." He looked impatiently back up and shrugged. "What?"

Jack turned the burner to low before walking toward him. "Saying 'goodbye,' Daniel. 'Have a nice day.' Aht!" he forestalled Daniel's protest. "Not some half-assed, thinking about work already comment. This." Jack pulled Daniel into his arms and held him tight. "Have a good day, Daniel. I love you."

Daniel closed his eyes. He really, really didn't have time for this, Jack's hugs were nearly impossible to resist. "I love you too." He pressed his cheek against Jack's for a couple of heartbeats before starting to pull back.

"Jack, I'm going to be late."

Jack tightened his grip stubbornly. "You'll be fine. I'll clear it with the boss."

Daniel shook his head and groaned. "That joke is just not getting old for you, is it?"

"Nope," he replied, his flippant tone jarringly disparate from the tension Daniel could feel radiating from him.

Daniel pulled back far enough that he could really look at Jack. He studied Jack's face, noted the tension around his eyes, the set of his jaw - classic indicators of Jack holding something back.

"Jack, what's going on?" he asked. "We've been together nearly a year and in all that time, we've never done the 'Bye honey, see you tonight,' routine."

Jack cleared his throat and loosened his hold on Daniel, but didn't step away. "Yeah, well, before you weren't going offworld without me. And somehow, I don't think it would considered very professional for me to give you your goodbye hug in the gateroom."

And finally one of them had said it - the reason Daniel wouldn't even admit to himself behind why he had come over last night despite his early morning, the reason he'd overscheduled his morning so that he wouldn't have time to think before the mission: Jack wasn't going through the gate with them anymore. He looked into Jack's eyes and saw the loss he didn't want to feel mirrored back at him. How long had Jack been asking to talk about this? How many signals had Daniel missed trying to ignore his own feelings about what this promotion meant for SG-1, meant for them?

Screw it. Nyan could wait five minutes.

Jack's eyes closed as Daniel's fingers traced the tension zones on his face and neck, smoothing lines, feeling muscles relax just a little. He smoothed his palms down the muscled back, felt Jack's relieved exhalation through his hands and against his cheek when Daniel pulled him back into their embrace. Daniel kissed his cheek softly and whispered, "I love you, too."

~end~


End file.
